On Some Swap Meet Finds

Since the start of the pandemic, I've done very minimal in person shopping when it comes to finding vintage treasures and, honestly, have been getting somewhat tired of online browsing, which removes the serendipity of spotting "that item" among a bunch of other less interesting things.

Before we hit the colder weather (and subsequently an increase in sickness), I really wanted to go to our local swap meet, which I hadn't been to for about three years. While the number of people was a bit overwhelming, I only went for a short while, wore a mask, and tried to stick with sellers who didn't have awnings or tents that would block off the air flow. 

For such a short time, I ended with a nice amount. 

My primary reason for going was to look for some buttons. I didn't find any vintage ones that I wanted to get, however, I certainly found buttons. 

My favorite find of the day, which was also my most expensive at $10, was this small clock! It doesn't work, so it will fit in nicely with my other vintage clocks.

Vintage brooches are always one of my favorite thing to look for since they usually only cost a dollar or two. I didn't find quite as many older ones this time. Who could resist that cute little woolly yak on the left, though? Other finds include three tiny glass animals, an owl, a pinecone scale house ornament, a collapsible wooden cat (a silly purchase, but I have always wanted one), a Laurel and Hardy card game, and a quirky framed spigot.  

I also bought a vase. I'm not entirely sure why it appealed to me so much, but at a dollar I'm not feeling too bad about buying it on a whim. And the oldest item of the day, a calendar page from 1905 that I am looking forward to getting in a UV protective frame and up on my wall.

Not pictured, I also found a vintage three inch toy poodle (I feel I should know what it goes with), a vintage handkerchief, a few sweaters, a skirt, and a dvd of the Prep & Landing Christmas specials (I'm not big on the newer specials, but I really took a liking to these ones). Overall, a very successful shopping trip! ♥

On a Monsterous Crow for Through the Looking-Glass Day: A Photo Post!

Okay, so maybe not that monstrous as it's under six inches tall, but my Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum action figure is small, so to them it might be. 

Yesterday marked the day that is generally acknowledged as the day Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There takes place. It occurred to me that while I regularly acknowledge Wonderland day (July 4th) and have acknowledged Hatter Day (10/6), I have never done a post for Looking-Glass Day, which is a bit odd given that this blog's name derives from a poem in that book! 

So while I'm a day late for the actual day, I wish a happy Through the Looking-Glass weekend to everyone! ♥

On a Spidery Capelet!

This is going to be the first of several "things I made last year, but never shared on the blog" posts. 

In the case of this project, I made it last October and then toward the end of the month the weather was too warm to wear it and I never managed to get a picture of me in it.

Anyway,  last year I gave into a childish whim and bought glow-in-the-dark spider web flannel. I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it, but I bought enough that I would have a few options and ultimately decided on a capelet.  

It was made using the same self drafted pattern I made my penguin capelet from in 2018, though clearly minus the hood. I definitely wanted it lined as I don't always like the feeling of flannel, so I went with black cotton.

While it's a thin flannel, I wanted to avoid bulk on the edges, so rather than bagging it out, I went with the option of using bias tape around the edge. I wasn't sure if I wanted white or gray, but then I came across some metallic binding while I was browsing at the fabric store and decided that it would give it an extra special touch to have a bit of shinny! Having been a year, I can't remember the exact details as to why, but I'm pretty sure it was less expensive to buy a wider width (possibly blanket binding even), so I bought that, then cut it in half, refolded the edge, and ironed it back to get a narrower width. As can be seen it turned out pretty well!

Overall, minus all the time spent on attaching and hand-stitching the binding on, this was a pretty straightforward project! ♥

On "Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World": A Book Review

 

Title: Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World
Author: Victoria Finlay
Genre: Non-Fiction

About the Book...
In Fabric, Victoria Finlay delves into the world of material, offering a survey history of fabrics including barkcloth, cotton, wool, linen, and silk, and highlighting their significance through time and around the globe.

What I Think...
This was a great book that, despite being a little over 400 pages, I managed to breeze through in about a week! 

A lot of information was packed into this and it is really so much more than just the history of a small selection of fabrics. In this book Finlay explores not just the making of the fabric, but the human element behind them and their sociological impact on the world and individual cultures, not just the economical side of things. She really explores the people involved in making them, both those who have been involved in the process for years and those working to learn the skill, the emotional elements that are tied into the process, and the shifting views on the particular fabric over time in the places it is/was made.  

I loved that much of Finlay's research, in addition to the more standard historical writing, involved going to places significant to the development or production of the fabrics and getting a deeper understanding through a hands-on approach. The first chapter, for example, which focuses on barkcloth, involved her traveling Papa New Guineaand living with a tribe that makes barkcloth. Additionally, I liked how she looks at individual pieces made from the fabric and what they reveal about its history. 

Woven throughout the histories is Finlay's own connection to the fabrics and her reflections on what they mean to her personally. Much of this was tied into her grieving and trying to process the loss of both her parents in a short time. This added a bittersweet element, but one that I feel added a level of richness to the book as a whole.  

To Sum it All Up...
A thoughtful and fascinating exploration of various fabric types and their history, infused with warmth and feeling. ♥